Men in Hope

I'm very pleasantly surprised and I dare say I haven't been so nicely entertained by a Czech film in a few years. Everything revolves a good script, which is at times unlikely, but has no dull spots. The acting duo of Macháček and Polívka is a perfect combination. And the new starlets Kerekes and Hřebíčková were at times more than just nice backdrops. Simona Stašová's departure was quite a shock and the whole hall roared. Nice music, good humor... I'm satisfied, so I'm re-evaluating (5 stars). (10/08/2011)

Jiří Vejdělek needs a proper script, Bolek Polívka needs a proper non-clown role... Jiří Macháček needs a good slap. Men in Hope took the templated characters, which I was able to tolerate in Women in Temptation, to absurdly amoral proportions that I couldn't stand - the men are shown only as stupid idiots, the women as stupid "sluts" (I can't think of a more polite term). The good jokes are few, the stupid ones are almost shameful, and the message that infidelity is fine and solves everything is garbage. However, judging by the good time audiences are having, it seems that the earnings of this film will be decent, and I'm almost afraid of what comes next. Unconscious children? (08/18/2011)

Vejdělek, Renč or Poledňáková... all of them have been making identical fairy tales for adults lately. Brand - to make everything pleasing to the eye. Actresses/dolls, rooms like from a magazine and some sort of plot, so that there is a reason to change the dolls in those rooms often. In this case, add a little bit of inner Prague and the result is complete. What, you don't like that? (10/19/2014)

Czech comedy has long been struggling to fit the requirements of the genre, and this film is no exception. I’m not a huge fan of Bolek Polívka, his increasingly darker nose is giving me the creeps, but his presence here was nicely balanced by Jiří Macháček. Similarly, Petra Hřebíčková was balanced out by Vica Kerekes. So, what it came down to was the plot which was pretty decent most of the time but it wasn't without flaws. (12/28/2019)

I went as a man in hope and left as a man in dismay from the fact that, despite his wide experience, Vejdělek doesn’t know what he actually wants. Whether this is a comedy, a drama, a tragicomedy, a satire, a farce, a relationships movie, or what... And each new segment is a new style like “everybody gets a go". And although each segment is not at all bad in itself (mainly the purely comic or purely dramatic), the end result is nothing; nothing good, nothing bad. (08/29/2011)